Diana Gurtskaya

Diana Gudaevna Gurtskaya (Georgian: დიანა ღურწკაია, Russian: Диана Гудаевна Гурцкая, born 2 July 1978) is a blind Russian-Georgian singer. Following a failed attempt in Belarus, Diana, on 1 March 2008, won the Georgian national final with 39.4% of the vote, therefore she represented Georgia at the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest in Belgrade, Serbia. She won a place in the final at the second semi-final on 22 May and finished 11th.

Diana Gurtskaya დიანა ღურწკაია
Gurtskaya, Georgia, Eurovision 2008
Background information
Birth name	Diana Gudaevna Gurtskaya
Born	2 July 1978 Sukhumi, Abkhaz ASSR, Georgian SSR, USSR
Genres	Pop, synthpop, pop rock
Occupation(s)	Singer, songwriter
Years active	2000–present

Gurtskaya has a number of awards to her credit. Most notably, a 2007 Russian Honorable Artist award given to her by president Vladimir Putin, a Medal of Honor given to her by Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili, and the Award of Saint Barbara in Ukraine amongst others.[1]

She has recorded duets with various well-known foreign singers including Ray Charles, Toto Cutugno, and Demis Roussos.[1][2][3]

In 2009, Gurtskaya received significant media attention after failing to obtain a visa from the British embassy due to her blindness. However, after a much publicised campaign, a visa was granted and the rules were changed.[4]

Gurtskaya is married to Pyotr Kucherenko, who is a sighted lawyer in Moscow, and they have one son, Konstantin (b. June 2007).

Diana Gurtskaya signed the petition of support of Putin's actions in Ukraine and Crimea in 2014.[5]

Discography

Studio albums

• Ty zdess (2000)[6]
• Ty Znayesh mama (2002)[7]
• Utro (2003)[8]
• Nezhnaya (2004)[9]
• 9 Mesjacev (2007)
• Ja Ljublju vas vseh (2009)[10]

Compilation albums

• MP3 Collection (2006)
• Novoye i luchshyeye (2009)

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
2007	9 months	singing voice	She performed theme song

References

1. Diana Gurtskaya's biography at eurovision.tv
2. Diana Gurtskaya's biography at eurovision-georgia.ge
3. Get to know Diana page of esctime.com Archived 2008-05-03 at Archive.today
4. Blind singer beats UK redtape, from Russia Today on YouTube, 30 April 2009
5. Деятели культуры России — в поддержку позиции Президента по Украине и Крыму Archived 2014-03-11 at Archive.today (in Russian). Ministry of Culture of Russian Federation. March 2014
6. , 28,9,2012
7. , 28,9,2012
8. , 28,9,2012
9. , 28,9,2012
10. , 28,9,2012

External links

Media related to Diana Gurtskaya at Wikimedia Commons

• Diana Gurtskaya Biography